George: Mi amistad con una urraca

by Frieda Hughes, Regina López Muñoz (translator)

«A raíz del suicidio de mi madre, Sylvia Plath, el 11 de febrero de 1963, a mi padre, Ted Hughes, le costaba asentarse. Su estilo de vida itinerante implicaba que mi modesto armario y mis libros (no tenía juguetes) nunca estaban en un único sitio, y tampoco podía hacer amigos (no tenía amigos de verdad). Adondequiera que él fuera, mi hermano Nick y yo lo acompañábamos como dos apéndices a remolque. Si apartaba la vista apenas un instante y luego volvía a mirar, el paisaje se habría modificado y a mí no me quedaría más remedio que aclimatarme a un universo nuevo». Así explica Frieda Hughes su anhelo de arraigo, de plantas y animales, de una compañía cálida y amable, pues, para tener plantas y animales, hace falta un hogar, una tierra que nos ancle, un jardín que cultivar, que ver crecer, un lugar estable que sea morada y cobijo.

Cuando por fin lo logró, cuando compró una vieja casa destartalada en lo más profundo de la campiña galesa con la idea de rehabilitarla, esperaba emprender algunos proyectos: plantar un jardín, pintar y escribir su columna de poesía para el Times. En lugar de eso, se encontró rescatando a una cría de urraca, la única superviviente de un nido destruido por una tormenta. Poco a poco, George, la urraca, pasa de ser una bola de plumas y huesos que grita exigiendo comida a convertirse en un compañero inteligente y muy rebelde que destroza la casa, aterroriza a la señora de la limpieza y contribuye a hundir el matrimonio en crisis de Hughes. Y, sin embargo, es imposible evitar enamorarse perdidamente de él.

Frieda, cautivada, teme lo que sucederá cuando llegue el momento de liberarlo y acaba embarcándose en una obsesión que cambiará el curso de su vida.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Animals, Nature, Birds, Audiobook, Biography Memoir

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 2023

About the author

Frieda Hughes is an English poet and painter who has spent much of her life in Australia. She has published seven children's books and four poetry collections. She is the daughter of the poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.

Reviews

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extremely well-written memoir that nevertheless feels exactly like every other memoir written by a person taking care of a rescued baby bird. This should not be a problem for you unless, like I have, you have made “memoir written by a person taking care of a rescued baby bird” a genre you actively seek out. She also reminded me of my ex-wife in a varied number of ways, so I can’t be trusted to write anything else without uncomfortably bearing my soul on the internet, so I’ll leave it at that.

[Alissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want her to write a hundred memoirs. I'll take 20 more about her animals. This - her first - memoir takes place after the death of her father, during the early stages of a divorce, and prior to the suicide of her brother. Ms. Hughes experienced multiple health issues during the same time frame. She's lived a life, man, and she keeps on living it, and she's not immune to describing the beauty of nature and animals in tremendous detail. Fabulous.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I read an uncorrected Advance Reader’s Edition.)

The birds are my reason for reading this. I didn’t think of who Frieda Hughes might be before it was lent to me, though once I found out, I have to admit it added a little extra interest.

After finishing the book, I saw that some readers didn’t care for her calling her husband-at-the-time the Ex. At her first use of the moniker, she explains her reasoning for it. But I also intuitively understand why it would be difficult for her to call him by any other name.

Though I enjoyed the book, at a certain point the repetition of daily activities, as interesting as they were, became the kind of thing to not read in big chunks. So I finished it over several weeks, reading just a day or two at a time—it’s in a journal format—and that worked well for me.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frieda Hughes is the daughter of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. She is an artist and poet and when living in Wales and renovating a house she finds an abandoned magpie chick after a terrible storm. She starts taking care of the chick, who she names George, and almost instantly her whole life revolves around him. When he is bigger and can fly she starts letting him outside assuming he will eventually go back to being a wild bird. But, she finds that he is very tame and often tries to play with neighbors and dogs like he does with her and her dogs. Magpies are often seen as a nuisance bird and are killed, so she decides she needs to build George an aviary where he can be safe. But just as the aviary is nearing completion George doesn't come home any more. So, Hughes basically starts collecting any random birds that need rescuing while also becoming increasingly unhappy in her marriage. George is never seen again and by the end of the book she is happily divorced and on her way to becoming a weird bird lady.

I was expecting this to be in the same vein as other animal/pet memoirs, but this whole book was pretty depressing. Hughes has health issues and an unhappy marriage for the majority of the book. Throughout the book she refers to her husband as The Ex, even though at that time they were still very much together. She also complains repeatedly about being known as Frieda-Hughes-daughter-of-Sylvia-Plath-and-Ted-Hughes but also draws attention to it herself throughout the book. Her fixation on George and then on a series of random birds seems unhealthy or very weird at the mildest. And I find it odd that George is never mentioned again, but the focus goes on all these other random birds. It was an odd and mostly depressing book. The very beginning with George was interesting and I think it could have been a good book. The overwhelmingly depressing tone just brought the whole thing down for me. There are much better bird/animal/pet memoirs out there.

[Katrina Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyable, quirky and charming story.
Written as a diary, it follows Frieda's heroism-then-obsession with birds in need of saving.

A story of how feeling needed by something is grounding in a life of ups and downs. The magpie George was a distraction and joy for her against the backdrop of a crumbling marriage and chaotic home and garden renovation.

I love the moments in the kitchen where George played with the dogs, hunted out the colour red and squirrelled away items like treasure.

I found her mission to conquer the garden project (and mould it to her idea of a forever home) interesting. Made me think about belonging and being tied to places and pets.

The book touches on heavier topics of grief, art for work, rural isolation, chronic pain and fatigue. I hoped for a bit more of this.

The structure and pace felt authentic but didn't have a story arc and left me a little startled at the quick ending.

P.S. Poor Mary the cleaner...

[Maricruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro entrañable acerca de lo mucho que puedes llegar a querer a un animal y el vínculo tan intenso que estableces con él. Contiene algunas lecciones a tener en cuenta si planeas adoptar a un bicho que no sea un perro o un gato. A saber: los pájaros cagan mucho, muchísimo, y a menudo te cagan encima. Y también: si tu pareja intenta hacerte elegir entre él o ella y un animal, quédate siempre con el animal.

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please seek out a diverse set of reviews.
This is a memoir of a few years in the life of a chronically ill (ADHD, ME, dyslexia) author leading up to her divorce focused on George the bird. The reference to her husband as “the ex” was a bit jarring, and he is not painted in a favorable light or into the bird obsession, or George obsession.
It does read a bit like an obsession, she was clearly very focused on the bird to the point of putting much of her life on hold to be accessible 24/7 to George. At 85% I expected the book to end but it continue with many more months of new birds and some health issues and the beginnings of the divorce. It does seem to end abruptly.
Overall interesting look into the life of a stranger raising a bird. Definitely won’t be for everyone as it was a very emotional experience for the author and it’s all about birds.

[Yahaira · Rating 4 out of 5]

-diary entries of someone filling the emptiness-

A super specific story on how Frieda took care of a baby magpie while also trying to build a garden and renovating her forever home in Wales. This is not about her parents, though of course they're always there in the background. Her childhood shaped her need for steadiness, she wanted a home and pets after moving so much with her dad. So, yes, there's a lot about a bird's daily habits (so much cleaning and feeding), but there's also Frieda dealing with a failing marriage, grief, and chronic fatigue all while trying to make it as a writer and painter. think fans of H is for Hawk would enjoy this.

[Julie Stielstra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frieda Hughes came out of a deeply unsettling childhood, beset with longings and yearnings and lacks. She is a poet, a painter, a maniacal gardener and a collector of the pets she never could have in her youth. She also happens to be the daughter of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes (she was two when her mother died). Whatever she loves, she loves passionately, and that includes George, the magpie chick she rescued after the nest was wrecked. She digs worms, dishes out dog food, shrinkwraps a dog crate, and cuddles and hovers over this tiny, demanding, noisy little knob of spiky feathers. And cleans up a lot of birdshit. On the floors, on the tables, on her shoulder, down her arms, in her hair... She is mesmerized by this little being, detailing every move he makes, every prance, every mischief, everything he looks at or picks up or steals or smears all over the house (including dog poop, which apparently fascinates him). One has a certain amount of sympathy for her husband at the time, known mostly as "The Ex," who was far less enamored.

I am a birder. I love birds, and I love magpies. But somehow I didn't love either Frieda or George. Too many pages of the same thing, over and over. She is both scattered and obsessive, bouncing from endless hours of planting and garden-building to writing a poetry column for a major newspaper, to painting, to watching George, to changing out of her cement-encrusted boots to a silk suit and four-inch heels for a party in London, spending years fixing up a huge rambling house in Wales (it seems maybe The Ex and a succession of hired contractors do much of that - presumably money is not exactly a big problem). I just got a little weary of her rambling and what felt like self-absorption with little self-awareness. When she let George go, I let them both go. Charlie Gilmour's Featherhood is another magpie memoir by the troubled offspring of an unstable poet, but the weaving of his own "fatherly" experience - both as child and parent to a magpie and a daughter - is funnier, more engaging, and more poignant.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐ The magpie bits were good, loved his little antics. It’s non-fiction so it’s harsh of me to say, but the author/narrator was a bit insufferable.

Am I the only one horrified that she was sharing her food and drinks with the same bird that was carrying dog poo and dead rodents in it's beak? And letting it poop all over her kitchen and her person. No thank you.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been enjoying watching the daily antics of my neighborhood crows. When I saw this book about the rescue/rearing of an abandoned magpie (a fellow corvid), I quickly requested it to learn more.

I absolutely loved reading about the flourishing of George. Corvids are social, and so very smart. These anecdotes about his growth are charming as heck. I particularly loved his pack behavior with the household dogs.

The concurrent storyline about the author’s failing marriage and chronic illness left me sad. Her dependance on George as a lifeline was an interesting selfishness. I’m left with antagonizing opinions: charmed to have read his story, yet also uncomfortable.

Overall, worth a read. My thanks to both NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for allowing access to a digital ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. .

[Kathrin Passig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessanter Elsterncontent, aber ich mochte den Stil nicht (abgenutzte Übertreibungsphrasen) und fand das Lektorat nachlässig. Ein paar Stellen wiederholen sich fast wörtlich.

[Dani Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried so hard to enjoy this and thought it would keep getting better but with all of the minuscule mostly pointless bird details I couldn’t find much that was relatable let alone a real plot. It is essentially her journal entries detailing everything that her bird does from a privileged and out-of-touch point of view.

[❀⊱RoryReads⊰❀]

Won this from the Goodreads Giveaways. Thank you Simon & Schuster. :-)

[LAPL Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the prologue to this memoir Frieda Hughes says, “The things I longed for, other than health, happiness and wealth, probably in that order, were plants, pets, and a home of my own that I would never have to move from. The plants and pets were the embellishment and confirmation of the permanent home and, therefore, the sense of stability and belonging that I craved.”

From her earliest memories, as a very young child, she craved and yearned for a stable permanent home, which for most of her life she did not have. She had a family, but they were never in one physical location for any length of time. Also, she was the daughter of two very well known poets, Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. For many years, being the child of two famous literary people had been puzzling and burdensome. Frieda was a person in her own right. Even as the years went on, as an adult who was an established painter, poet and literary critic, she was too frequently introduced as the daughter of …

Having lived in London for many years, at long last she found a property in Wales that met her needs. Her husband, at the time, “always maintained that he wanted to go back to Australia,” but the marriage was foundering, and she states, “In this book, although we were still married, I refer to him as The Ex.”

Once they arrived in Wales, Frieda began her all-consuming focus on redoing the landscape around the house. She visited garden centers and hauled back pots of plants and materials for making cement walls, raised beds and for securing pavers. With short breaks for lunch or tea, she would be outside late into the day, mucking about, shaping the landscape to suit her vision.

This memoir/autobiography, is in the form of a diary, and begins on Saturday, May 19 2007, when she noticed a pair of magpies building a huge nest that was quite an intricate masterpiece. The magpie couple "knitted this wooden bag for their babies; it hung in the highest of the branches like a dark lantern ... shaped like a tall, inverted pear, with a twiggy lid that was attached." A storm and fierce winds dislodged the nest, and a day or so later Hughes noticed "a feathered scrap" that turned out to be an injured baby magpie. Despite her careful assistance this baby chick and a second one died. However, there would be a third baby magpie, buried beneath 6 inches of dried leaves and woodchips who screeched out with “a deafening shriek [that] tore right through my eardrum ... It squatted belligerently, peering up at me with magpie fury." This was the chick that survived and would be called George, who would change her life and that of many other people in the most unimaginable ways. Frieda Hughes would never think of birds, in particular magpies, as having lesser brains than human beings.

Reviewed by Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & Fiction

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this didn’t make me want to have a pet bird myself, it did make me wish I’d met George. And I kind of want to move to Wales now, too.

A delightful read I thoroughly enjoyed, and the illustrations were a wonderful accompaniment to the tale of George.

I won a paperback ARC of this book in a giveaway, but I will be buying a hardcover copy for my personal library.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The detailed journal of a woman in her 40s who has adopted a magpie while constructing an over-the-top garden in Wales is *definitely* not for everyone. As it happens, it was very much for me. Go figure.

[Anita Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very entertaining (at times) and informative book! I guess I just got a little weary of George's tricks by the end.

[Willemijn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took me a LONG time to finish and I'm not sure if it was because of the book or because of me? But I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt and say it was because of me. I've been very tired and busy as of late. Anyway, George!

When I saw this book at the sale section at a book store I usually never visit, I was excited! I had never heard about or seen this book before but it sounded like a great match! I have this daydream of having a crow/raven and going out for walks with it, playing with it and cuddling with it. Because these birds are everything!! So reading about someone who had a magpie? Close enough right?

I think it's great that the author kept a diary of everything that happened. Taking care of a bird such as a magpie is such a special and unique experience. It's worth writing it down. I really enjoyed reading about how George was growing up and becoming more and more "bird-like". There are some adorable stories about him interacting with the dogs and with the author. He's such a loving, silly, mischievous and stupid bird! I feel like I know him now.

There are quite a few interesting facts about magpies and other corvids in this book. For instance, I didn't know corvids also throw up pellets like owls do. Even though it makes so much sense!! They eat meats and clean up cadavers. Of course they have to dispose of the small bones and other indigestible pieces of their meal.

Sometimes, I did feel that the stories that were being told about George were oddly specific? Sometimes the author explicitly said: "this is actually true" and for some reason that planted a seed in my head that it might not actually be true? Idk if that's correct (not to the author at least) but it was exactly what solicited that thought/feeling and that made me feel a bit more skeptical when reading. The bubble sort of burst.

Some pieces of the story were also a tad too slow or boring to read, but that's definitely on me! I'm not necessarily a fan of "a slice of life" stories that don't have themes or situations that I can form a connection to. Bad romantic relationships and motorcycles are not my topics of choice.

Also, where are the pictures she took of George and her other birds? She talked about them often and I would have loved to see them. I think they would have been a great addition.

Overall, a fun book and a unique one. But it didn't blow me away.

[Erin Osbourn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 🌟 this was a really sweet little book that had me doubling over laughing at George’s antics while I was trying to drive. However, if you go in expecting it to mainly be the story of this woman and George, you may be disappointed as it’s pretty much just her diary entries from that time.

[Andy Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely book. A really great story of bonding with a creature very different from us but astute to our ways & how to deal with us. A really personal journey through a period of change in Frieda’s life, especially with “the Ex”, who seems to be a bit insecure, even towards the bird, & on to new interests & forms of transport. The author is as interesting as her subject. I hope there is a follow up along the direction her life seems to now be taking.

[Dread · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Solace: This was a light and quirky story written in diary entry format about a woman saving and then obsessing over birds that need saving and how that mirrored her own life and needs. The book is also sprinkled with beautiful drawings and poems, which adds a homey feeling to the reading.

The Dread: The majority of this book felt like a parent describing their child growing up, which to the parent is beautiful, overwhelming, emotional, and wonderous, but to the outsider, it feels like a forced smile. There were themes of loss of life, motivation for creative words, social connections, and health, but we didn't dive deep enough; I wanted more. Because of this, it was hard for me to connect emotionally with the book. There was also a pretty abrupt ending.

Overall, this was alright. Although the way the story was crafted added authenticity and the closeness of reading someone's diary, it felt like I could only be close if I already knew the writer.

[Cassandra Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone who dislikes birds, I found this memoir to be a delightful read about the love and meaning animals bring to our lives

[Christine Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn’t expecting to enjoy a book about an adopted magpie as much as I did! Thanks for the recommendation Meg 😄

[Shilo Adams]

As much as it pains me to say this about a clearly intelligent, well-meaning book centered on animal rescue, I tapped out around 1/3 of the way through.

I've had a number of animals pass through my life thus far (albeit mostly cats, with a few dogs and fish sprinkled in), so this was a book I badly wanted to love and through what I read, there were sentences and sentiments that had me nodding my head and muttering to myself about how much I related. The self-blame and guilt when a rescue doesn't go right, the retroactive second guessing where you walk back through your decisions to figure out what went wrong, the sense of purpose that comes from having something depend on you - all (and more) covered here.

Seeing similar experiences to the ones I've had reflected back drew me more into the story of George, who is a charming entity unto himself and whose personality develops almost as quickly as his body. I enjoyed learning more about taking care of birds and seeing the author throw all of herself into getting this helpless creature, abandoned during a mighty wind storm that killed his siblings, where he needed to be. You can feel her empathy and warmth as her affection for George grows and it's easy to not only root for his progress but see in him animals in your past that you loved. The drawings sprinkled throughout the book definitely help in that regard, too.

However, George: A Magpie Memoir is unusual in that it's based on real diary entries that've been retroactively fleshed out, which is a structural and narrative decision that kept me from really sinking my teeth into it. While I understood the reasoning behind the diary conceit, particularly given how quickly George (mentally and physically) grows and how big a role he plays in the author's life, I was surprised to see that this isn't solely a book about taking care of George. Rather,
the structure means there's a lot of content here that feels tangential, ranging from information about the author's garden, how she's renovating her home, her childhood (especially her relationship with her father), her writing career, etc. Which I guess does provide some context re: how George is fitting into her life and where she was emotionally/psychologically when he came around, but it made things feel a little unfocused. Combine that with sometimes dry prose, retroactive additions/editing that take you out of the book's world (e.g. referring to her then-partner, who wasn't remotely interested in George, solely as The Ex), and a concept predicated on internality and it was akin to a long, (mostly) unstructured monologue.

This is probably just a me thing, but I also wasn't a big fan of the way the book was organized. It's hard to get into diary-reading mode when entries aren't separated onto different pages and there's no real chapter-like organization to how they're laid out. Maybe I'm just too out of practice when it comes to reading non-fiction, but rhythm is a big thing for me when I read and here I just couldn't find anything, hence the DNF. Figuring out some way of better organizing the author's thoughts could've opened the story up more while retaining the concept.

I feel like had this been narrative non-fiction, I would've enjoyed it more. The structure would've been more accessible, the narrative would've been tighter and more cohesive, and the emotion would've been stronger. This is one that I might put away for now and then give another try at a later date, but for now, I don't think I can recommend.

Full disclosure: I won a copy of George: A Magpie Memoir via a giveaway on Goodreads. Thanks to Goodreads, Avid Reader Press, Simon & Schuster, and Frieda Hughes for the opportunity. I'm sorry that I wasn't more taken with this one.

[Agnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating memoir primarily about the author’s relationship with a magpie chick that she rescues. I learned so much about magpies (and other corvids), and even got glimpses of a few other species. The author’s struggles with chronic back pain, chronic fatigue syndrome, and a chronically failing marriage were honestly rendered, but mostly served as contrast to the joy she found in her relationship with birds. I did think that referring to her ex husband as “The Ex” throughout the book was distractingly petty - it’s not like one has to go farther than her Wikipedia page to find out who he is, so it’s certainly not a privacy protection measure - but that was a relatively small complaint. Overall, this was an engaging read, and somehow light in tone, despite the struggles and sorrow. I couldn’t help but compare it in my mind to “H is for Hawk” by Helen MacDonald (dipping into the audio version a few times was especially striking, as the two authors have very similar voices to my ear), which completely sucked me into the mind of a hawk. This book was not quite so engrossing but was very enjoyable nonetheless.

[Kevin Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an enchanting story about how a seemingly commonplace creature entered the author’s life and awakened a sort of childlike wonder.

As George grows larger and ever more willful the question of what to do with a not quite tame but not wild magpie arises. This question forms the crux of the story, the central problem which must be solved. Frieda Hughes faces other challenges too- a ramshackle house in the country, work and health problems, and a fractious relationship with her husband (referred to throughout as “the ex”)

Hughes is a skilled writer and artist and there are heartwarming sketches of George throughout. There are some lovely passages too. The author’s recollection of a trip to High Island when she was a child was beautifully written. What truly tugged my heartstrings was an entry that came toward the end of the book, George on the sofa gazing out the window and feeling the invisible tug of the wild but not being quite ready to answer it.

I was fortunate to receive an ARC as part of a Goodreads Giveaway.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It feels a bit uncomfortable writing a critic on a memoir, as I feel as if I am critiquing the author’s life. I related to Frieda love and he desire to save, and heal George. I have a similar affinity to animals. But so much of the story is redundant, and doesn’t add to the story. I found myself skipping forward because it was so redundant. I also felt sorry for the Ex. While Frieda professed to love the Ex, she didn’t make any effort to adjust her relationship with George to create a strong bond with her husband. She didn’t seem to make any accommodations to maintain a marriage and blamed him for wanting a divorce and changing his name the next day, and repeating this over and over. Undoubtably there is some codependency issues. I found the story exhausting to read, as much as the author was during this period of her life.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only someone who is the daughter of a famous couple who has her own issues could be entitled enough to write a book about her midlife crisis when she was obsessed with a bird while her marriage concurrently fell apart. If she and her parents weren’t famous, no one would care. And, frankly, it shows how unstable she was. Very clearly. The writing isn’t even great.

[Daniel Lurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this book; it set a high bar for being my first book of 2025. From the delightful cover, to the sketches of George sprinkled throughout, and of course Frieda's narrative, I was hooked. I've always been obsessed with corvids and this narrative did not disappoint. I grew up loving Sylvia Plath's work, as well as being engrossed in the mythos of her life with Hughes, so I was shocked to see that their daughter was the author of George. While Frieda briefly touches on carving out her own identity from the shadow of her parents, I think this memoir does a fantastic job encapsulating how caring, funny, and unique Frieda is as her own individual.

Yes, much of this memoir is shaped by journal entries based on raising a young magpie called "George," yet, we also get to learn so much about Frieda and her own personal life. Navigating a failing marriage, struggling with aspects of identity, and her absolute need for control. She is constantly working on her garden, poems, painting, and raising animals, because this gives her a sense of agency in the chaos of the uncontrollable, including her body as it suffers from strange chronic ailments (including fatigue syndrome).

George is successful in a way that I see other memoirs lacking in cohesion. Often a memoir's structure gets so caught up in the setting or narrative that it's trying to tell that the larger nuances are brushed over and/or are non-existent altogether. There's so many genuine, raw, and honest moments woven into the altruistic focus of raising the magpie. I found my heartstrings pulled in many directions, laughed and smiled at many moments. I adore the way Frieda writes--which makes me want to check out her poetry.

If anything, reading this for the sketches and to fall in love with George (the magpie) like Frieda did makes it worth it. Highly, highly recommend.